DHS names privacy committee

The Homeland Security Department (DHS) announced the appointments of 20 members to the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee that will advise the department's secretary and chief privacy officer on issues that affect privacy, data integrity, and data interoperability.

"This committee will provide the department with important recommendations on how to further the department's mission while protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information of citizens and visitors of the United States," Nuala O'Connor Kelly, DHS's chief privacy officer, said in a press release. "The diversity of experience and perspectives represented by this committee will play an important role in advancing the national discourse on privacy and homeland security."

The first Privacy Advisory Committee meeting will be held April 6 in Washington, D.C. Kelly will be the departmental sponsor. Rebecca Richards, DHS director of privacy compliance, will be the committee's executive director. The committee will meet quarterly.

The members, who come from the private, non-profit, and academic sectors, were appointed because they have diverse expertise in privacy, security, and emerging technology. DHS received 129 applications after a notice to create the committee was published April 9, 2003. In this inaugural committee, members will serve staggered terms of two years, three years, or four years, but eventually all subsequent members will serve four-year terms.

The members include:

* Joseph Alhadeff, vice president and chief privacy officer for Oracle Corporation

* Ramon Barquin, president of Barquin International in Bethesda, Md.

* J. Howard Beales, associate professor at the George Washington University

* D. Reed Freeman, chief privacy officer and vice president for Claria Corporation in Arlington, Va.

* James Harper, editor and executive director for Privacilla.org and director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute

* Kirk Herath, chief privacy officer and associate general counsel for Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio

* David A. Hoffman, group counsel and director of privacy for Intel Corporation in Hillsboro, Ore.

* Lance Hoffman, distinguished research professor at the George Washington University

* Tara Lemmey, chief executive officer for Lens Ventures in San Francisco, Calif.

* Joseph Leo, vice president for SAIC

* John Marsh, distinguished professor of law at George Mason University School of Law

* Joanne McNabb, chief of the privacy protection office at the California Department of Consumer Affairs in Sacramento

* Charles Palmer, department group manager for security, networking and privacy, at IBM

* Richard Purcell, chief executive officer with Corporate Privacy Group in Nordland, Wash.

* Paul Rosenzweig, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation

* John Sabo, manager of security, privacy, and trust initiatives at Computer Associates

* James Sheehan, general counsel for Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Penn.

* Lisa Sotto, a partner and head of regulatory privacy and information management practice group at Hunton and Williams, New York, N.Y.

* Michael Turner, president and senior scholar for the Information Policy Institute in New York, N.Y.

* Samuel Wright, senior vice president for government relations at Cendant Corporation in Washington, D.C.